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U.K. Starts Terrorism Threat Level System
The British government yesterday unveiled a new system for identifying the terrorism threat level facing the country, USA Today reported (see GSN, March 13, 2002). Home Secretary John Reid made the announcement to lawmakers three days after the first anniversary of London’s transit bombings that killed 56 people and injured 700 more. The system, Reid said, will begin Aug. 1 and would allow the public to better understand the threat facing the United Kingdom. Reid said the nation currently faces a severe threat, the second highest level on the new five-level scale of “low,” “moderate,” “substantial,” “severe” and “critical.” Critical means an attack could be imminent based on government intelligence. British security services formerly had a seven-level assessment alert system, but kept it secret from the public. Under that system, the United Kingdom had been at the third-highest threat level, “severe general,” since last year’s bombing, Reid said. London does not plan to publicly announce upward or downward shifts of the threat level, but the status would be accessible on government Web sites. Reid said the government would not disclose how it determines the threat level. “This is not an exact science,” Reid said in a speech to the House of Commons. “It involves human judgment. No one can predict the future.” He said he hopes the system “instills confidence and trust” that the government is taking every precaution to protect the public from terrorism (Jeffrey Stinson, USA Today, July 10).
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